Dominguez’s two blasts power Astros past White Sox

Astros-White Sox: May 16-18

Seeking refuge from the heat, Astros righthander Brad Peacock was in the tunnel between the dugout and the home clubhouse when Matt Dominguez hit his first two-run homer Sunday afternoon.

Peacock didn’t need to see the shot to know it was gone. He knew it had a chance by the sound of Dominguez’s bat meeting the 3-2 changeup. Those thoughts were reassured when Astros hitting coach John Mallee began yelling at the ball to “get out” a split second before the roar of the crowd at Minute Maid Park.

Then Peacock ran up the tunnel to greet Dominguez with a high five and thank him for pushing him closer to his first victory of the season.

Dominguez hit a pair of two-run home runs, giving Peacock all the support he would need to beat the White Sox, 8-2, before a crowd of 21,532.

“I was hunting that first win,” Peacock (1-4) said. “I knew right away they were going to score some runs for me today. They did, and it was awesome.”

Peacock, who has now lasted at least six innings in a career-high four consecutive games, held the White Sox to five hits and two runs with four walks and five strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.

Moreover, his first victory since last Sept. 11 helped the Astros take two of three against the White Sox to win consecutive series for the first time since they won consecutive series against the Angeles Athletics last Aug. 13-18. The Astros finished the homestand 4-2 after going 2-1 against the Rangers and White Sox before heading on a 10-game trip to face the Angels, Mariners and Royals.

“It’s always good when you can win series,” Astros manager Bo Porter said. “It’s definitely better when you can do it at home in front of your home crowd. This was a good homestand, and we want to keep the momentum as we head out on the road.”

Chris Carter led off the second inning with a home run to left, giving the Astros a 1-0 lead. Jesus Guzman followed with a walk. L.J. Hoes then hit a ground-rule double to right field. One out later, Jonathan Villar hit a two-run single to left and reached second when left fielder Alejandro De Aza let the ball roll under his glove for an error.

Villar then stole third base and gave the Astros a 4-0 lead when catcher Adrian Nieto sent an errant throw to left field attempting to throw him out at third.

Peacock struggled with his command against the bottom of the White Sox order. He walked Alexei Ramirez and De Aza before Nieto hit an RBI single up the middle in the third inning. Adam Eaton then loaded the bases with a single to right.

Peacock settled down and induced a 1-2-3 double play chopper back to the mound from Gordon Beckham.

“That was huge,” Peacock said of the double play. “I just tried to throw a slider down and away. Fortunately he hit it to me. I just threw it to Corpy and he got the double play. It was awesome. It was a big pitch and a big play in that inning.

“I just tried to calm myself down. I walked two guys that inning, and I just tried to make a big pitch. I did.”

Peacock got out of the inning by inducing Conor Gillaspie’s line out to center. Dominguez then hit his first two-run homer in the bottom of the third off the façade in left-center field to give the Astros a 6-1 lead.

“It was great,” Carter said of Dominguez’s performance. “It’s just good for the team to keep the rally going and keep everybody positive.”

Dominguez added another two-run shot to left in the fifth inning to secure the third multi-home run game of his career and his first since he hit two homers last May 25 against Oakland.

“Dominguez continues to swing the bat,” Porter said. “He’s a guy that can turn around anybody’s fastball. He’s got power to all fields and plays a Gold Glove third base.”

Dominguez is the first Astros player to have a multi-homer game since Jason Castro hit two last Aug. 24 against Toronto.

“I think we’re having a lot of fun,” Dominguez said. “We have good team chemistry, and we just got to keep working hard.”